1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Leipzig
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Baumstarke Stadt - Baumpatenschaften
Short description of the intervention
The city of Leipzig initiated the project "Für eine Baumstarke Stadt" in 1996 to integrate community support into the greening of Leipzig through tree planting. Citizens can become tree sponsors with a donation of 250 Euros or more supporting the increase of the tree stock in parks, on the street and at squares since they are planted in addition to the tree stock determined by the city department for urban green. The sponsorship includes a sign with the indication of the tree species and a personal message. This programme contributes to a greener city landscape and strengthens the attachment of citizens to their urban environment (1, 2, 3).
Address

Leipzig
Germany

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Public Greenspace Area
Website of the intervention
http://www.leipzig.de/freizeit-kultur-und-tourismus/parks-waelder-und-friedhoef…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2015
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2016
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Goals of the intervention
1. Strengthening citizens' attachment to urban green (2);
2. Increase the urban tree stock (2);
3. Increase quality of life and well-being for citizens of Leipzig (2);
4. Improving the city's micro-climate (2);
5. Improving appreciation of citizens for nature (2).
Quantitative targets
No quantitative targets set for the initiative, measuring of targets only possible in retrospective based on annual success of the programme: In 2013 for instance, due to sponsorships 356 trees could be planted and 330 existing trees obtained a sponsor, which equals around one third of the all plantings in the city (2)
Monitoring indicators defined
Number of trees sponsored per year (including both newly planted young trees as well as existing trees)
Amount of funding in EUR collected per year (to be reinvested into planting trees) (2)
Type of tree, age, information about the tree disk, trunk and development of its crown (4).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Noise reduction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Build resilience
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
Create or improve outdoor spaces to help people escape from urban heat
Implementation activities
The city department for urban green and water bodies administers the project, keeps track of available sponsorships, manages them and the plantings including maintenance provide the required online tools and customer services. A citizen/citizen group or company can choose between set locations for new trees or existing young trees. Once the sponsorship is settled, the sponsor receives a sign with a personal dedication and the indication of the tree species on the sponsored tree(s). If the sponsor wishes, he/she can also take personal care of the tree via watering or keeping the tree disc clean (1, 2, 5).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Parks and urban forests
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Vegetation Type
Trees
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Noise reduction
Carbon storage/sequestration
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Please specify other local relevant strategy
The "Luftreinhalteplan Leipzig" (Clean Air Plan Leipzig) and the "Lärmschutzplan Leipzig" (Noise Protection Plan Leipzig) (10, 11).
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The Department for Urban Green and Water Bodies of Leipzig municipality initiated the project and has been maintaining it since the beginning. The department administers the project, keeps track of available sponsorships, manages them and the plantings including maintenance, provides the required online tools and customer services to receive complaints and sponsors' feedback on the condition of the trees which helps them to react quickly (1, 2).
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
Promoting the greening of cities of the future to combat a variety of challenges is also the mission of the federal government, exemplified by a publication on Urban Green which serves as a guideline for German cities for further action based on best practice examples. One of them is Leipzig with its programme "Urban Forests - Urban redevelopment through afforestation" which is currently being subject to national funds: its core is the use of vacant space / deserted space as an element for green urban redevelopment (12)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
There are two relevant plans: The "Luftreinhalteplan Leipzig" (Clean Air Plan Leipzig) and the "Lärmschutzplan Leipzig" (Noise Protection Plan Leipzig) which both mention the conservation of the current tree stock and implementation of new urban tree cover as planned measures for improving the air quality and reducing noise levels in Leipzig (10,11)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Spatial planning guidance
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The city of Leipzig has a Street Tree Concept 2030 which outlines the urban sets a strategic framework for action that is geared towards the development of the entire urban street tree population up to the year 2030 (4). There are two relevant plans: The "Luftreinhalteplan Leipzig" (Clean Air Plan Leipzig) and the "Lärmschutzplan Leipzig" (Noise Protection Plan Leipzig) which both mention the conservation of the current tree stock and implementation of new urban tree cover as planned measures for improving the air quality and reducing noise levels in Leipzig (10,11)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
The necessity to conserve green space in living quarter and turn vacant space into nature-based solutions is mandated by fixed criteria and spatial plans in the Integrated Urban Development Concept of the city of Leipzig (6).
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific green space strategy or plan
Urban redevelopment plan
Other
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The "Stadtpflanzer" civic society initiative and the charitable association "Ökolöwe Leipzig - Umweltbund Leipzig" which are both involved in the "Grün Schumann" initiative which collaborated with the „Für eine Baumstarke Stadt“ ("For a tree-strong city") programme of the Office for Urban Green and Waters of the City of Leipzig. "Ökolöwe Leipzig - Umweltbund Leipzig" also supports an environmentally and ecologically friendly, sustainable development of the region of Leipzig (11).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The tree planting program is financed mainly from municipality budget, however, with the financial contribution of sponsors tree planting and maintenance costs are reduced (1,2).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Not applicable
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Not applicable
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Not applicable
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Not applicable
Please specify cost savings
The costs for administration of the project are covered with the salaries of the employees of the Office for Urban Green and Waters of the City of Leipzig. The full costs for planting and maintenance of a city tree amount to 1,000 EUR per tree which is usually paid by the city department. Through tree sponsorships, parts of these costs are covered by donating citizens, thereby reducing required investments for the city department while at the same time facilitating the plantation of 1/3 trees more than would have been possible without the sponsorships (2).
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The total costs for all the trees planted from 1996 cannot be assessed.
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Corporate investment
Crowdfunding
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Donations
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Private sector (businesses, financial institution)
Business models
Green densification model
Local stewardship model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Social
Policy innovation
Governance innovation
Please specify social innovation
The innovation can be both considered a policy innovation and a governance innovation. A policy innovation since the success of the initiative has inspired the development of a strategy paper / a spatial action plan for maintenance and increase of the city tree stock in Leipzig up until 2030, laid out in the "Leipzig's city tree concept". Its goals is a massive increase in planting street trees while turning it into a communal and cross-generational task. Since the city administration cannot take on this task all on its own an intense citizen involvement process took place in the run-up and during formulation of the strategy (via workshops, particiaptory forums and PR activities) and for safeguarding that it will be carried by all of Leipzig's citizens (Ref. 7). Since the programme relies on citizen engagement and sponsorships it is also seen as a governance innovation.
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
There are several such tree sponsorship programs all over Germany with essentially the same mechanisms and structure (Ref. 2).
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Reduced noise exposure
Green space and habitat
Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
There is no record of the achieved environmental benefits of the trees planted in the framework of the initiative, only suggested impacts and status reports available:
- The planted trees are expected to contribute to the environmental quality of the urban area, as trees are proven to fulfil important ecological functions in public space, namely oxygen production, dust filtration, noise buffering and habitat creation for animals (4).
- Despite the overall success of the programme, a recent analysis yielded that Leipzig's city tree stock despite its green image needs to increase since only 17% of Leipzig's streets have a full tree cover while 19% only have a fragmented tree cover and half of Leipzig's streets do not have any trees. In total, there are 65,000 city trees in Leipzig but there is potential for additional 45,000 (7).
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Education
Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
- The programme showed intense citizen engagement, both through sponsorships and civic society intitiatives to promote it (4, 8, 9).
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Number of planted trees (7)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Environmental quality
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Please specify other method used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Keeping track of the number of planted trees (8)
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of October 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
Link to a web-based monitoring tool
http://stadtplan.leipzig.de/WebOffice/synserver?project=Stadtplan&stateID=8ec11…
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
In 1992, a street tree cadaster was set-up for Leipzig, which is a database including details about every street tree concerning type of tree, age, information about the tree disk, trunk and development of its crown (4).
GIS assessment of density off tree cover on major streets, arteries and side roads (7)
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Online Forum
Submission of monitoring data (citizen observation)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Project website
Detailled info on the project
Further info on a new strand of the project
List of references
1. Stadt Leipzig Amt für Stadtgrün und Gewässer. (n/a). ‘Mein Patenbaum für Leipzig. Für eine baumstarke Stadt Spenden- und Pflanzaktion’. Leipzig: Stadt Leipzig. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.meinpark.info/tl_files/pdf/flyer_baumstarke_stadt_leipzig.pdf
2. Stadt Leipzig Amt für Stadtgrün und Gewässer (2015) Naturkapital Deutschland – TEEB DE Fallbeispiel. Aktion Baumstarke Stadt. Website not available.
3. Stadt Leipzig. (2017). Unsere Aktion Baumstarke Stadt. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/freizeit-kultur-und-tourismus/parks-waelder-und-friedhoefe/spenden-und-patenschaften/baumstarke-stadt/
4. Stadt Leipzig. (2017). Stadtbäume. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/umwelt-und-verkehr/umwelt-und-naturschutz/baeume-und-baumschutz/stadtbaeume/
5. Stadt Leipzig Amt für Stadtgrün und Gewässer. (2017). Park- und Straßenbäume - Stadtplanansicht. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://stadtplan.leipzig.de/WebOffice/synserver?project=Stadtplan&stateID=8ec11520-622a-4b02-801c-7dd24936536c&client=core&language=de
6.Dezernat Stadtentwicklung und -bau. (2009). Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept Leipzig 2020 (SEKo). Leipzig. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/fileadmin/mediendatenbank/leipzig-de/Stadt/02.6_Dez6_Stadtentwicklung_Bau/61_Stadtplanungsamt/Stadtentwicklung/Stadtentwicklungskonzept/SEKo_Pdfs
7. Stadt Leipzig. (2017). Bürgerbeteiligung für mehr Straßenbäume. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/umwelt-und-verkehr/umwelt-und-naturschutz/baeume-und-baumschutz/stadtbaeume/buergerbeteiligung/
8. Stadtpflanzer. (2017). Grüne Schumann. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.stadtpflanzer.de/portfolio/gruene-schumann/
9. Stadtpflanzer e.V. (2015). GRÜNE SCHUMANN // Beteiligungsprojekt Grüne Georg-Schumann-Straße. Leipzig. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://schumann-magistrale.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/VF_dokumentation_internet_gruene_schumann_112015.pdf
10. Stadt Leipzig Amt für Umweltschutz. (2009). Luftreinhalteplan Stadt Leipzig. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/umwelt-und-verkehr/luft-und-laerm/luftreinhaltung/luftreinhalteplan-der-stadt-leipzig/
11. Stadt Leipzig Amt für Umweltschutz. (2013). Lärmaktionsplan der Stadt Leipzig. Leipzig. Accessed on October 9, 2020, http://www.leipzig.de/fileadmin/mediendatenbank/leipzig-de/Stadt/02.3_Dez3_Umwelt_Ordnung_Sport/36_Amt_fuer_Umweltschutz/Luft_und_Laerm/Laermschutz/Laermaktionsplan/Laermaktionsplan_2013_09_17.pdf
12. Bundesministerium für Umwelt / Naturschutz / Bau und Reaktorsicherheit (2015) Grün in der Stadt − Für eine lebenswerte Zukunft. Grünbuch Stadtgrün. Berlin. Website not available
Interview
Attachment Size
additional_data_from_telephone_conversation_with_the_city_department_for_urban_green.doc (38 KB) 38 KB
Comments and notes
Additional insights
The work of the city department concerning the sponsorship programme is based on a standard for planning and implementation of urban green which is required for trees to fulfill desired functions in urban areas. This standard regulates the quality features of city trees, the preparation of the location and treatment for the next years, adequate species selection and planting that suits local conditions (Ref. 4)
Public Images
Citizen Tree Sponsorship Program (2016)
Citizen Tree Sponsorship Program (2016)
Sebastian Fried, retrieved 08/18/2018
Citizen Tree Sponsorship Program (2016)
Citizen Tree Sponsorship Program (2016)
Sebastian Fried, retrieved 08/18/2018